The World of the Lost
by Stag and Mare
Summary: This is my version of what happened 2 years after the epilogue in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Nineteen years later. Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley have found the last remaining half of The Vanishing Cabinet - and disappeared...
1. The Silver Messenger

The Silver Messenger

The sun rose above Godric's Hollow, casting a warm, red glow over number 13. As Harry peered through the window, he heard his sons, James and Albus, upstairs having their usual argument.

"My wand is longer!" screamed Albus, hitting his brother with a pillow.

"But mine is more powerful!" James retorted.

"Mine is holly, just like Dad's!"

Their mother walked in carrying a basket of odd socks.

"Will you two stop it! This has been going on for long enough! How old are you? Both your wands are perfect for both of you! Just be happy you have one at all!"

Both boys' expressions turned to looks of guilt. Ginny, however saw through their lies.

"James, come and help me with these."

She indicated the basket she had put down on the bed.

"And Al, get out of your brother's room and go and clean Hally's cage."

Hally, short for Hallow, was the Potter family owl. She was a snowy, the exact double of Harry's old owl Hedwig.

Albus trudged off grudgingly towards the stairs, and into the living room, where his father stood gazing out of the window.

"Dad?"

"Yes Al," said Harry, turning his attention to his youngest son.

"Why couldn't we go with Lil and Hugo to Diagon Alley?"

"Because," explained Harry. "Your mother and I need you boys here to help with everything!"

"But then I want to go and try out the new stuff Uncle George has sent me! He says he has only just finished them, and I am the first one try them!"

"Well, if you clean that cage, you'll be allowed!" said Harry, and he walked out of the room, leaving his son to struggle with a hungry owl.

Harry closed his eyes. He imagined, just for a second, that he was 17 again, and he was looking through the eyes of Voldemort, down at the pitiful body of Severus Snape. Then reality shook him. He was not 17 anymore.

Suddenly, a silver hound leapt in through the open front door and skidded to a halt just in front of Harry.

"It's Lily" said the dog, with Ron's voice, and a rather panicked edge to it. "She and Hugo, Knockturn Alley, disappeared…….."

The words were jumbled, but the meaning was clear: his daughter and nephew were missing.

He bounded up the stairs, as the patronus faded, and reached the room where his wife and son were balling up socks.

"Ginny, can I have a word outside?"

She sensed the urgency in his voice and hurried out with her husband.

"Its Lily and Hugo, they've disappeared…." began Harry. Ginny butt in.

"Go. Now. I can look after the boys. Just find her Harry." She kissed him, and then he pulled his wand out of his pocket and headed down the stairs, grabbed a bundled up piece of material, turned on the spot, and was gone with a _pop_.


	2. The Vanishing Cabinet

The Vanishing Cabinet

"Be careful and shhhhh!" whispered Lily, as her cousin Hugo nearly tripped over a stall of cauldrons. "They'll hear us, and then we won't get away with it!"

"What are we actually doing?" asked Hugo, who was undoubtedly like his father. "I mean, get away with what?"

"Oh, we're only sneaking off for a bit! They won't even notice we're gone! Come on, and shhhhh!"

They pushed their way through the crowd of witches and wizards, being careful to stay out of sight from Ron and Hermione.

They stepped round a corner, and down a side street. The name could only be seen faintly, and they couldn't make out all the letters. All the wall around them were black, and looked rather shabby compared with the brightness of the usually crowded Diagon Alley.

The street was deserted, but a light shined at the end, like a little beacon of hope that they might have an adventure.

The light was coming from an old little shop at the end of the row. The outside was also black, but the inside glowed with a warmth she could not explain. Lily squinted, to try and detect signs of movement: of life. But she saw nothing. Just a light. A welcoming sort of light she thought, as she dragged Hugo towards it.

_This will be a good place to hide for a bit,_ she thought.

_Just until we get bored and head back,_ commonsense added.

She stepped in through the half–opened doorway, the door creaking as she brushed against it.

Lily examined the strange objects that piled the surfaces of the cluttered shop. Her heart thumped, for she had the same sense of adventure as her father.

She approached a large black cabinet, as Hugo was wrestling with a withered old hand. She examined the cabinet. It did not look old, but reminded her of the bedtime story her dad used to tell her, and about how the death eaters used a cabinet to get into Hogwarts, and capture Dumbledore, according to her dad. But that was just a story.

Then she heard voices. Not friendly voices.

She called to her cousin, who had managed to free himself, but was now staring into a mirror, and only Lily's voice seemed to lift him from the trance.

"Hugo! Quick, in here!" She beckoned towards the strange black cabinet.

They swung the cupboard doors open and leapt inside, then the voices faded, and so did the dark walls of the cabinet. If it wasn't for the tight grip she had on Hugo's hand, he would have vanished too.


	3. The Cloak Again

The Cloak Again

Harry appeared, moments later, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of shoppers, just outside the pub, The Three Broomsticks.

As he rushed through, he heard faint cries of 'Harry Potter!' and 'How good it is to see you again!' But his mind had room for only one thing: his daughter. And he would do whatever it took for him to find her.

He tapped on the wall at the back of a little room, and suddenly saw the packed streets on which, 27 years ago, he had first stepped into the wizarding world.

It didn't take him long to see the unmistakable red hair, and soon he was next to Ron and Hermione, and their daughter Rose.

"Tell me everything." He said this with such calmness, but inside he was feeling his heart break. But all was not lost. Yet.

"Well…" began Hermione, but Ron stopped her.

"I'll tell him. We were outside Flourish and Blotts, getting all of the books sorted, when this ruddy bird flew at me!" He pointed, in fact, to his own, rather flustered owl, which was perched on Hermione's shoulder.

"Anyway, Lil and Hugo must have thought it funny to slip off, but they never came back. We looked, and we just saw Hugo's red hair turn the corner to Knockturn Alley. By the time we'd got there, they'd vanished, and there was no light down there, but we looked anyway, still, there was no-one down there. And Hermione even used that spell, to see if people were there, you know…Hom…Homee…"

"Homenum revelio!" Hermione said, looking exasperated at her husband.

"That's the one! I always struggle with the really long winded ones, you know."

"Ye." said Harry, with a forced grin, even though his heart was aching even more. "I did go to school with you for 6 years, and then spent most of the 7th with you, and, you know, all the times after that! You are my brother in law. Anyway, we need to find Lily and Hugo."

"The only place possible is Knockturn Alley, but we've already checked it."

"I know, but they can't have gone far. They're only kids."

"Ye, kids of the age of eleven, which is, if I can remember, the exact age you fought of Voldemort stuck to the back of some guys head. " Ron argued.

"They'll be OK Harry. I know they will." Hermione was trying to calm him, but his temper was almost as lost as Lily and Hugo.

"Will you stop making jokes, Ron? Our children are lost, and all you can do is laugh." Harry could not stop himself.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood a bit." Ron said in defence.

"Lighten the mood? If you haven't noticed, our kids are missing, or does your tiny mind only have room for 'lightening the mood'," said Harry sarcastically.

"Will you two shut it?" Hermione screamed, almost causing Pigwidgen to fall off her shoulder. "Now, Rosie, go and see your Uncle George at his joke shop, 'K?"

Rose hugged her mother and then said a goodbye to her dad and uncle then walked off in the direction of Weasley's Wizard Weezes as Hermione turned back to the boys.

"Now, we need to find our kids, so Harry, give me that cloak, and lets go!"

They stepped under the Invisibility Cloak, crouching somewhat, and headed off in the direction of Knockturn Alley.


	4. Nowhere to Hide

No-where to Hide

"Hugh? Where are we?"

"In the back of that old cupboard thing?"

"Will you open your eyes?"

"What? Oh……." His voice tailed off, leaving a silence as they both looked around at their surroundings.

Huge, empty mist was engulfing their tiny figures into little specs of life.

_It's like the fog dad told us about, when the dementors are there, _she thought. _But without that strange chill._

She began to contradict her thoughts, as a figure, just visible in the mist, came gliding towards her.

"Lil. What's that?" said Hugo, asking the very question that was flooding Lily's mind.

"No idea." She answered blankly, but all she wanted to do was know, so she could hide, or escape, or even fight. But how could she? She had a wand, but knew no spells. Except, she did know a spell. And a very powerful one at that. But no – she couldn't possibly use a brand new wand, not hours after she had purchased it? But it was clear – they were not in a place that played by the rules.

The figure was drawing nearer, but it was no clearer.

She began to detect a silvery shimmer to the being.

Was it a patronus? No. It was too faint for that.

Maybe a ghost? She had never seen one, but the many stories from her brothers were enough.

Hugo's whimpers didn't help her discomfort and fear for this strange place. She stood up, on what she supposed to be the ground, although all she could see was more mist. The figure glided closer, with that effortlessness that made her feel uneasy.

Hugo's whimpers grew louder, and she turned round to see more of these strange beings.

She hoisted him up and began to run, but she had not gotten far, when more of these floating figures appeared out of nowhere.

She tripped, and fell, bringing Hugo down with her.

_It must be real,_ she thought. _I definitely tripped over something solid._

Suddenly, her head pounded, as she heard a million tiny voices calling out to her.

"Help us," they said. "Help us to be free."


	5. Into the Dark

Into The Dark

"Ouch, Ron. That was my foot!" whispered Hermione.

"Sorry."

They walked through the ever darkening streets, searching for signs of life, anything that would help them to save Lily and Hugo, or even them themselves. They entered the shop they knew most down there: Borgin and Burkes.

"If anything happened," said Harry. "It was in here," remembering the occasions in which he had been in to the mysterious shop. He had fallen out of a fireplace, on his first use of Flu Powder, and once, he had hidden from the Malfoys in a strange black cabinet…..

They stepped inside. The door creaked, but they were invisible, so no-one would suspect anything.

"Lumos," whispered Harry, his wand tip lighting up immediately.

The shadows danced on the walls of the dusty old shop, like strange beasts, from a long ago nightmare; shifting memories in their minds.

"Well, it could be worse," said Ron, being careful not to catch Harry's gaze. "I mean, there aren't any spiders!" Ron's fear of the tiny black beasts had stayed with him over the many years.

Suddenly, a huge crash broke the silence, and all three gripped tighter on their wands, now with the Invisibility Cloak off, in full view of whatever was out there, in the shadows.

"Homenum revelio," Hermione stammered.

"And?" asked Ron.

"I don't get it," Hermione murmured to herself, but in the new silence it was quite clear.

"What?" said Harry, intent on getting to the bottom of this, and finding his daughter.

"There's no-one here."

"There has to be," argued Ron, a look of panic on his face.

At that moment, a dark figure stepped out from behind the counter.

"My disillusionment charm works then," a snarling voice said. "Well well, I have magic even the great Hermione Granger can't penetrate."

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, but the stranger was quicker: she cast a shield charm, knocking Harry off his feet.

"Harry Potter," the voice sneered. "The boy who lived."


	6. Lost

Lost

Lily's wide eyes looked around her, for from every angle there was a floating white being, not opaque, not transparent.

_Ghosts_, she thought.

'Help us,' they said again, with the same whisper.

"W..w..what do you want?" Lily stammered.

"Help us. Help us."

She drew her wand, without knowing why.

_What am I doing? s_he thought to herself. But to her surprise, they retreated.

She gripped tighter. They moved further back.

_So they're afraid of magic?_

She tried, experimentally, waving her wand. The reaction was pleasing.

"Who..what are you?"

'We are the lost.'

"The lost?" repeated Lily, as Hugo whimpered again.

"Will you get a grip?" she shouted at him. "All you've done is act all scared, so will you just, I don't know, help, or try to find out where the hell we are?"

At that Hugo got up and ran, through the mist, and was gone. What had she done? She didn't mean to yell, but the fear bottled up inside her had to be let out somehow. Why him? Why not those stupid, silent things?

"Hu...Hu..." But the words would not come, so she sat there and cried.

The ghosts retreated and melted into the mist, leaving Lily alone.

**************

Hugo ran. He didn't know why, but he ran. Those things he ran through, or it might have been the mist, felt icy cold, as if nothing was there except icy cold air.

As he ran further and further away from his only friend here, he came across a strange little creature, as real as him and Lily were in this world of translucent people.

The creature was just a little smaller than the length of his leg, and was crying. Hugo knelt down and looked at it. It was an elf. He knew this because of the pictures of Dobby, who had been a friend of his uncle's. But what was an elf doing in a place like this – more importantly, what was he doing in a place like this?

He was not in the Muggle world, or the wizarding, so he must be in another world. But where?

Suddenly, the elf gave out a great yelp, which made Hugo turn back to him.

"What's the matter?" Hugo asked, who had always been taught by his mother to be kind to these creatures.

"Oh!" the elf whimpered. "The human noticed me!"

"Of course I noticed you. You're not like those weird ghost things, you're real – aren't you?"

"Yes, now, but soon I will not be."

"What do you mean?"

"The longer you are in this place, the more you belong."

"What? So you mean you will be like them, the ghosts?" he had never called them this in his mind, but the word came naturally to his lips: _ghosts_.

"Me, you, everyone." This scared Hugo. He did not want to be like this. Then, to his horror, the elf's hand he was holding suddenly felt icy cold, and even though he hadn't let go, it went straight through his solid hand and rose up, like the rest of his body, into the mist.


	7. The Mirror

The Mirror

The woman stepped, not carefully, to where Hermione was standing, pointing her wand directly into her face.

"Who are you?" asked Hermione, not revealing the fear she was feeling.

"How stupid mudbloods are!" jeered the woman.

"You get away from her!" Ron shouted, but another stunning spell sent him flying into a case full of shrunken heads.

Hermione raised her wand, gripping it so tight, her knuckles turned as pale as the stranger's face. The woman sneered.

"Who are you?" Hermione repeated coldly.

"Don't you recognize me? "

"Well, clearly not, so would you care to enlighten us?" said Harry, coolly. The woman's sneer grew.

Then she spoke "Pansy - "

"Parkinson," finished Hermione.

"Oh, well done!" Pansy laughed. A cold, evil laugh, that sent shivers down Hermione's spine, reminding her of the time she was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Ron stood up, raising his wand, like Hermione.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Harry, standing up, wishing Ginny was there as he saw Ron take Hermione's hand.

"I suppose you won't leave here anyway, so there's no harm in telling you . I am, how would you put it, redesigning the Mirror of Erised." As Pansy said this, Harry's heart ached. How could she have anything to do with Lily and Hugo?

"The Mirror of Erised?" Ron thought out loud. "Oh, the mirror? I haven't seen that in years."

"How could you, it's been hidden," snapped Pansy. "But I have found it, and I am working on it."

"And how, exactly, are you 'working' on it?" Hermione asked.

"So many questions. So little time." Pansy noticed the questioning glance passed between Harry and Ron.

"So little time for your beloved children."

"What have you done with them?" Harry said, so sharply, it was as if he was ordering Pansy to tell him.

"Well I'm not giving that away, am I?"

"So you're not as stupid as you look then, are you?" This comment from Ron was all Hermione needed. As Pansy looked puzzled for a moment, Hermione shouted,"Stupefy!" Pansy was thrown off her feet into the shadows that she had emerged from, and they heard a loud, metallic crash, as she hit something. They followed the noise, and came across a door. The force from Pansy landing on it had pushed the door open, so they stepped inside.


	8. The Grey Messenger

The Grey Messenger

As Lily cried, she suddenly felt a disturbance in the air around her. She looked up. Nothing she could see had changed, but it felt as though the mist had grown thicker, or more dense.

She noticed that one of the ghosts was coming towards her. She had decided to call them ghosts, because she could think of nothing else they could be. It seem to come naturally to her mind: it fitted.

As it drew nearer, she realized it was not as see-through as the others, but it was not like her. She drew her wand, but the ghost kept coming towards her, never moving a muscle, just gliding effortlessly towards the place where she was sitting.

'You are the other one then.' the ghost said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"The other what?"

"The other Living."

"Living? Oh, you mean, not see-through?" Lily could see this agitated the ghost, so she tried to change the subject.

"What is this place?" she asked, because she had never actually found out.

"The Lost are here." This did not really answer her question, but she pressed on.

"Who are the Lost?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. They are lost." The ghost mocked her, wasn't it obvious?

"I _know_," she pressed on. "But why are they lost, isn't there a way back?"

"No. There is no way back. You are stuck here forever."

"What? But there has to be. I need to get back. How...how..." But again, the words would not come. She had to get back, but how could she? This ghost had told her, and it looked so depressed anyway, why would it lie? She was stuck here. Forever.

"How did you get here?" the question reached her lips before it had formed properly in her mind.

"The same as everyone else in this land. Except you......." The ghost pondered over his last statement, but then realized Lily was looking at him, and resumed his explanation.

"I was dissaparating, but the place was not formed properly in my mind, and I ended up here."

"But, wouldn't you just be a bit, you know, splinched?" she asked.

"Oh, I wish. Being splinched would have felt like a breath of fresh air." Lily wondered if the ghost was going a bit mad, she had always thought of being splinched as a horrible idea.

"Yes, this is much worse," the ghost said, seeing the expression of disbelief on her face. "Much, much worse. You turn like me, and have to stay here forever, floating endlessly until..... But that will never happen."

"What, what won't happen?" She had to find out, to see if she could help.

But the ghost floated away, and became part of the mist once more.


	9. Reflections

Reflections...

Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped through into a dark room.

"Lumos." Hermione's spell brightened up the space, revealing a large mirror.

"That's it. The Mirror of Erised," said Harry. All three of them stared in admiration. The mirror seemed smaller to Harry than the last time he saw it, but still as beautiful.

He looked into it's inviting depths, but when he turned away, he had a strange look on his face.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't see.. I saw..." he tailed off, leaving an unhelpful silence in the room, broken only by Ron, who had managed to trip over a small black box as he made his way over to where Harry and Hermione were standing.

"What's that?" asked Hermione, noticing the box.

"Dunno," answered Ron, who was a bit preoccupied with massaging his foot to notice an obviously worthless little box.

"It's locked. Alohomora." At Hermione's spell, the box started to rattle, an unusually unsettling sound.

"What do you think it is?" said Ron to Harry, but Harry was staring into the Mirror, with a puzzled look on his face.

"What is it mate?" Ron asked him, but Harry would not admit what he had just seen, how could he?

But Hermione suddenly let out a loud scream, and collapsed onto the floor.

"Hermione!" Ron bounded over to her, and screamed himself. The box was open, and inside was a face. It was withered and old, but not unkind.

"What the......?" Ron remarked. Harry would have normally been interested, but he was still confused about what he had seen in the mirror.

Hermione was still on the floor, but she had regained consciousness. The shock of what she had seen had shocked her.

"You OK?" said Ron.

"Fine. Just a shock, that's all," replied Hermione. "Harry, look. Harry?" But Harry had gone. He had disappeared.

"Harry, come out, it's not funny, OK." But Ron's words didn't do anything.

"Homenum revelio." Hermione looked anxious.

"Oh, don't tell me he's not here," said Ron. Hermione shook her head. "What's the deal with this mirror, anyway?" said Ron, walking in front of it. His face suddenly went blank, and his eyes widened.

"No." This word came from the face inside the little black box. "No."

But even Hermione could not stop Ron. He walked in to the mirror, and disappeared.

"Ron. Ron." Hermione's sobs were quiet, but heard by the woman who walked in.

"So. Your friends have discovered the Mirror's power then?" Pansy said.

"Where are they?" Hermione said. "Tell me."

"Well, why would I do that?" Pansy laughed. Hermione saw her eyes flicker to the open box on the floor. Hermione saw her chance.

"Well, if you don't tell me, then I'll have to find out for myself." Hermione grabbed the tiny box, to cries of 'No!' from Pansy, and ran into the mirror, the tear marks still etched upon her cheeks.


	10. The Stranger

The Stranger

Hugo ran. Ran as far as his legs would carry him, thinking that if he did so he would leave this place. But he simply ran, moving through thick fog, never ending, just white. As he ran, he could hear something. It was not the whispering voices, but a new sound, a frightening one. Like a cold wasp. His legs began to ache, and he sat down on what he thought was the ground. There was never any way of knowing what was what in this place.

Hugo yawned, he was tired. But how could he be? He had not been here long...or had he? Come to think of it, he had no idea what the time was, or where he was for that matter. So he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He did not feel the footsteps, he did not see the wand and the flash of green light, and he did not hear the scream.

* * *

But Lily heard it. She ran thought the mist towards the voice, and saw who had made it. It was a boy of about her age, and he was lying on the 'floor', not moving. His eyes were closed, and his body motionless, but he was not dead, she was sure of that. There was no sign of the thing that had caused this, but Lily had the strangest feeling as if someone was watching her from out of the mist, and if she had not looked at the boy and noticed the thing he was wearing around his neck, she might have seen the red eyes that gazed at her from within the fog.

The boy had short brown hair, and had Muggle clothes on, but Lily was sure he was a wizard, for in his hand was a wand. She bent down and felt the boys neck. She could feel a steady heartbeat, but the boy was completely motionless. Lily gazed at his face. It was beautiful. Perfect. Like he had stolen it from an angel.

Then the boy stirred. Lily jumped back, and fell down.

"Hello," the boy said, and Lily felt a warmth inside her when he spoke, she was safe with him.

"Hi."

"Where are we? I mean, I know I was in London a second ago, and then I heard this voice, and then...." he trailed off, leaving an unfriendly silence behind him.

"What?" said Lily, who was dying to know more about the stranger.

"I'm sorry, but, I don;t even know who you are."

"Oh, I'm Lily!", she laughed.

"I'm David," said the boy.

_David, _Lily thought, _such a beautiful name._

"Anyway," Lily said, shaking herself back into reality, "erm... How did you get here?"

"Oh, well I was in London getting my school stuff."

"For Hogwarts?" asked Lily, but when she had said it this seemed like the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes," David said slowly, as if Lily was a small child that didn't understand something.

"I mean, of course! Where else would you be going, yes, I'm going too, hopefully, you know, always, you know......" Lily would have like to hide herself away somewhere and never come out. She could see the boys expression of confusion, and could feel herself going redder and redder.

_Why now, _she thought, _why do you chose this moment to look like a complete idiot in front of a stranger? _

But the damage was done.


End file.
